Beyond the basic elements of civilization, what did the sumerians add to future societies and cultures?

For better or the worse, the Sumerian contribution to the societies and the cultures of the future was agricultural surplus and social classes. When we achieved the level of civilization that made it possible to create the surplus food we in turn made it possible for people to live in larger communities and thus the groundwork for the further development of society was created.

Wood is. Wood comes from trees which can be grown again. Coal and oil come from fossils of dead animals and plants and take so long to form we consider them non renewable. And iron is found in ores and we will one day run out of them as well.